A Malaysian-led group planning to develop a liquefied natural gas terminal in northern British Columbia is offering one aboriginal community more than CA$1 billion (US$822 million) in incentives over 40 years to approve the project.

Pacific NorthWest LNG, led by Malaysia’s state-owned Petroliam Nasional Bhd, is offering the payments to the Lax Kw’alaams First Nation so it can build a gas-export terminal on the community’s traditional lands at the northern port of Prince Rupert, according to a posting on the native group’s website. The deal, with a total value of CA$1.15 billion, also includes incentives from the provincial government and pipeline developers.

The proposed export facility is part of a CA$36 billion plan by Petronas, as the state-owned company is known, to ship gas reserves from Canada’s westernmost province by tanker to growing energy markets in Asia.

The 3,600-person Lax Kw’alaams community will vote on the incentive package this month, according to the Globe and Mail, which first reported the plan.

Pacific NorthWest’s project is one of 19 LNG developments proposed in British Columbia. Petronas, which is awaiting environmental approval from the Canadian government, has yet to make a final decision to proceed.